Red Magical Pills
by gorgeousastrolabe
Summary: A fanfiction about a red haired girl finding a bottle of red magic, controlling the red magic, and the death that follows. Occurs after the sixth book. Based off of the game Fran Bow. Rated M for drug use, horror, occasional swearing, and death (would be rated T if it wasn't so gory and if hallucinogenics were not in use).
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Amulet or Fran Bow. Also, this fanfiction is pretty hardcore, and I, the author, do not support the use of drugs or death.**

 **-Lilith**

When I was very little, I had a book. I can't remember where I got the book, or who gave it to me, but I remember having it for a very long time. It was pretty and colorful and had beautiful illustrations, but I never understood the plot. And, now that I am older, I'm surprised that my mother didn't take the book away from me.

Of course, I didn't know anything then. The book seemed very confusing and strange. I couldn't understand what was going on, or what the red pills had to do with anything. But I still remember the book now.

I can't help but wonder why I remember that book. Why that book out of all things? It was about drugs, yes, but I was young and didn't know. And a horrifying book about mysterious pills seems like something that anyone would want to forget. My memory is a very interesting thing.

 _"_ _Then the girl, who was very scared, took the pills to make herself feel better. But the pills made her see things, and the girl became so scared that she died of fright. She knew that the world was a beautiful yet terrible place, and the pills took out all the beauty."_

"Earth to Emily," Luger said kindly, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Oh, sorry," I said, remembering that I was in the middle of a strategy game. I move a piece forward without thinking, and Luger automatically reached forward and used his piece to hop over mine, sliding my piece off the board to join its brethren.

"You're not focusing, Emily," he said quietly, a kind smile on his face.

I shrugged apologetically, a small smile on my face. "Sorry. I can't exactly focus right now."

"What's on your mind?" He asked with a concerned and curious look in his eyes. He rested his elbows on the table and studied me.

"Nothing important," I murmur as I gaze at the board, trying to find a way to win. Even though Luger was kind, he was very smart, and had most of my pieces cornered. "Just old, strange memories from my childhood are suddenly resurfacing."

"Well, you _are_ still a child." Luger reminded me gently. "You have just been forced to grow up a little bit faster."

I nodded, wondering how I hadn't gone insane yet. After glancing at the board for a few more seconds, I decide to move a random piece, knowing that there was no way I could win. Luger moves in suit, and a few seconds later he has won and is in possession with most of my pieces.

"Well, that was interesting," he said as he stood up. "Now, I have an appointment in the Infirmary. Care to join?"

I nod as I stand up, quickly clearing the board before following him to the Infirmary. On the way, we pass by Trellis, who glanced at the both of us for less than a heartbeat before ignoring us. It seems cold, but I know that that is Trellis' way of saying hello.

A few minutes later, Luger and I are in the Infirmary. We walk inside through the double doors, and Luger pushes himself onto one of the simple white beds and lays there, waiting for the doctor to show. I pull up a cold metal chair and sit beside the bed.

"I wonder where Navin is," I murmur to myself.

"He's probably safe," Luger says to answer my question.

I nod but that doesn't make me feel much better. I know that if something _really_ bad were to happen to Navin, like death, then I would feel it, but Navin could be in the middle of an enemy base. He could be tortured right now and I wouldn't know. The possibility made me squirm in my chair.

I stop squirming when Doctor Laurel appears, carrying a whiteboard in one hand. She smiles warmly at me before chattering with Luger, pausing to take notes occasionally. They seem to share a kind and pleasant conversation that I don't bother following. After a few minutes of chitchat, Doc hands Luger a small tube of pills and scribbles down instructions.

"Now, do you need my aid, Ms. Hayes?" She asks me kindly as Luger glances over the instructions.

I blink, and then realize I had been caught off guard. "Oh, um, well I would like something to help me sleep easily." It wasn't a lie.

Dr. Laurel smiles kindly at me. "Maybe you should work yourself a little bit more, and eat less before breakfast. If you still cannot sleep in a week, I'll prescribe you something."

"Pardon me, Doctor," Luger interjects, "But Emily has been pushing herself every day. It's not her energy that it keeping her awake."

Dr. Laurel frowns. She seems to rethink her statement and then nods. "I'll start you on some medications then. I don't have them with me though, and it would just be easier if you come with me to get them." I nod, deciding not to question her.

Luger watches us as Dr. Laurel leads me towards the back of the Infirmary, guiding me into a room that looks like an oversized medicine cabinet. I glance around the brightly lit room, my eyes roaming over different vials and bags and bottles. I see pills and herbs and even dried leaves and flowers. There must be every existing medicine in this one room.

Dr. Laurel hurries over to one of the shelves, reaching back to tie her thick black dreads into a high ponytail as her gaze travels over the medicines. I decide to busy myself by turning and studying the nearest shelving unit full of medicines, occasionally picking up bottles and inspecting them before putting them back.

After a few moments, I glance back at Dr. Laurel. She is leaning over a countertop, scribbling on a sheet of paper. A small bottle of even smaller white pills rests beside her, and I decide to let her fill out my prescription in peace.

After a few seconds, my eyes rest on an enormous bottle of red pills. It was probably the biggest bottle in the entire room. I slowly take it off the shelf, trying not to accidentally cause the glass jar to shatter. I hold it up to my face, and study the label on the bottle. The bottle is filled with something called Duotine.

My mind flashes to a fuzzy memory of a book I had once read. A children's book about horrible pills that make people see horrible things. I open the bottle and take a whiff, only to find that the pills do not carry a scent.

I can't help it: I'm curious now. It's probably not the same drug, but something inside me tells me something else. It was the same name as the drug in the book, and I knew that couldn't be a coincidence. Still, the drug in the book I read was pretty horrible, and even if it wasn't the same I probably shouldn't be taking random drugs. But curiosity was burning in my veins, and after a few more seconds of mental debate I take a handful of pills out of the jar and slip them into my pocket.

"What are you doing?" Dr. Laurel's voice makes me jump. I gasp and spin around, and I can tell that she didn't see me slip the drugs into my pocket. She frowns as she picks up the lid and screws it back onto the jar.

"You shouldn't be playing with this, Emily," Dr. Laurel says as she puts the jar back onto the shelf. "This is one of the few drugs that we don't have much information on. It can be as harmless as a painkiller or something that could stop your heart. It's dangerous and you shouldn't be playing with it."

I hold my hands in front of me in a gesture of surrender. "I didn't even touch the pills," I lie easily. "I just got curious, that's all."

Dr. Laurel sighs and hands me the bottle and the instructions. "Take one of these with your dinner. They should make you tired enough to fall asleep. And they're harmless too, so taking them with painkillers won't do anything."

I nod and thank her before following her back to the Infirmary. Luger is waiting for us, and we wave goodbye before leaving the room. By then it's dinner time, and Luger and I go our separate ways to put away our medicine. I decide to hide the stolen pills in a small velvet pouch, and then I hide the pouch in my nightstand drawer. Then I hurry off to dinner.

* * *

I sit on the edge of my bed, the small black pouch in my hand. In the other hand, I hold a red pill, studying it in the soft glow of the lamp on my nightstand. It seems so simple, so harmless, that I almost can't imagine the horror this simple pill may or may not wreck. But then my memory reminds me, and I hesitate.

Finally, I lift the pill up to my lips with shaking fingers. I pause when the pill rests in my mouth, and then I quickly grab the glass of water beside me and take a big swig. I swallow the pill down, and then swish the water around my mouth to clear out the taste.

The pill takes effect after a few heartbeats, and I have to fight back a scream.

 **So what do you think? Fran Bow is actually one of my favorite video games, and Amulet is one of my favorite series. This definitely has a bit of a start, and I'm not a hundred percent sure where I want to go with it. But suggestions are welcome!**

 **-Lilith**


	2. Chapter 2

It hit me like a freight train. Not like a normal freight train though. It was like a freight train from hell that made my heart stop and made me start choking on my own spit. I squeezed my eyes shut, my hands clutching at my heart, groaning before I began choking again. I doubled over, gasping for breath, my heart beating frantically beating in my chest. After a few seconds, I managed to grab the water and drink some, unwelcome tears spilling from behind my closed eyelids.

After I gained control of myself and slowed my heart, I opened my eyes, peeking out from underneath my eyelashes.

The first thing I saw was blood. Blood everywhere. Blood on the floor and smeared on the walls, on my bed sheets and dripping from the ceiling. I gasped loudly, and then clapped my hand over my mouth. When did all this blood get here? It certainly wasn't mine. But who else's could it be? How did I get _blood_ on the _ceiling_?

Gradually, I managed to open my eyes all the way. I discovered that there was more copper-smelling blood dripping from the window by my bed, and that there were rats by my door. The dead rats were lying face up, their eyes squeezed shut, their mouths open like they had died screaming in terror. I shuddered. As I took another look around my room, I saw bleach white bones in a pile in the far corner of my room, scraps of fur and cloth hanging from them. I didn't want to know whose body the bones, fur, and cloth belonged to.

By now my mouth was agape. The world around me was truly bloody and horrifying. It was as if I was seeing a whole new level to the world I didn't know existed, and after looking around my room I decided that I didn't want to see more of it.

But I was already in this mess. I had taken the pill knowing that something would happen, but I hadn't imagined this. I took a deep breath, fighting the urge to vomit.

It took me several minutes to adjust to the horror. My stomach was roiling and I felt nauseas. A part of me wanted to go outside, just to I could look around and see what the world looked like now. Probably a bloody wasteland, but I couldn't know for sure until I did I saw it for myself.

I took a step forward. I nearly retched with the urge to throw up all over the blood stained floor. My vision swam, and I was so dizzy that I could barely see. My hand was on the door knob. As I held the door knob, trying to steady myself, it grew colder and colder, until it had the same chilly burn that one had after they held ice for a long time. I took a deep breath, swallowed back the thick saliva that was building up on my tongue and the vomit, and then opened the door before I could talk myself out of it.

The hallway was disgusting. Blood dripped out from holes in the ceiling, dribbling down the walls and collecting in clumps here and there. I glanced up, and saw a chandelier made out of skulls, the skulls dripping with a mixture of black ooze and blood. I had to shove my fist into my mouth to keep myself from whimpering and vomiting at the sight and the smell.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were littered with holes. Not bullet holes or termite holes, but enormous gaps that made me feel even more disgusted. The entire hall looked like it was falling apart. I peered into the nearest one, and discovered that instead of seeing the room next door or the hallway below, I saw pure and empty blackness. My fear of heights kicked in, and I pulled away, squeezing my eyes shut. I was sure I was going to throw up now, and it was only a matter of when.

I began to shuffle down the hall, making sure to avoid the gaping holes and the little bugs that were squirming around. I could remember that on the other side of the door was the common room. As I moved, I began noticing things I hadn't noticed before: chunks of bloody glass stuck in the carpet, dead bugs lining the walls, and the awful smell of death. I could feel all the food I had eaten today rising into the back of my mouth, but I swallowed it back. I could handle this.

Suddenly the door on the left opened. The porthole on the door had blood dripping out of it. "Hey, Emily," Trellis said as he stepped out of his room. Then he looked at me, paused, gave me a strange look, and then shut the door behind him. "Are you okay?"

I knew it was Trellis because of his voice, but what I saw wasn't Trellis. It was a skeleton wearing Trellis' armor, thin white hair sticking to the skeleton's skull, and a dagger stuck in the skeleton's ribcage. The sight horrified me more than my surroundings.

Then I remembered that he couldn't see what I could see. He didn't see both living and dead bugs on the floor, or the pools of blood, or the black abyss below through the holes in the floor. He saw a girl who looked severely nauseas, swaying on her feet, and practically on the verge of vomiting all over him.

"I-I'm fine," I groaned. I was amazed that my voice could even work through the vomit in my throat. The skeleton gave me an even more concerned look.

"Are you sure?" I heard Trellis ask. I was starting to sweat, and I could feel it on my forehead. The lights were hurting my eyes, and I had to look at the floor. I weakly waved off his concern.

Trellis stared at me for a moment, and then decided not to question it. "Whatever. Don't stay up too late, and go to the sick bay if you're feeling ill. We have training tomorrow, and I don't want you unable to train or throwing up all over me." He said before turning and marching swiftly into the common room at the end of the hall.

What time was it? It was nine o'clock, last time I had checked. Did time work differently in this world? I didn't think so, but I couldn't know for sure.

"Oh, and Emily?" Trellis said, turning to face me before he could walk into the common room.

I stared at him. Even the skeleton was starting to become blurry.

"You should go lay down. You look like hell." He said, and then left me alone in the hallway.

I wanted to tell him off. I wanted to tell him to shut up and leave me alone, but I knew he was right. And lying down and sleeping off the drugs had more merit to me than exploring at the moment anyway. So I turned around, stumbled back to my room, shut the door behind me, and weakly trudged over to my bed before throwing myself down on the comforter, squeezing my eyes shut so I could shut out the horrors around me.

 **And that's chapter two. Sorry it took me so long to update. I actually wrote this a while back when I first published the first chapter, but I needed to edit it and rewrite some parts because it didn't look good enough for me. I'm not a hundred percent sure where I'm going with this, but I already know how it's going to end and I just got to get from point A to point B. Anyway, I'd highly recommend playing Fran Bow since the story line is pretty cool, and I'll update whenever I can.**

 **-Lilith**


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